The Time Agency
by jammywho
Summary: After causing a paradox, the doctor encounters the time agents as well as some old friends and old enemies
1. John Stevens

John Stevens was a man with a purpose. He was one of the few who knew what was going to happen today, but the only one who was prepared to do anything about it. London was surprisingly empty today, he mused, as he drove through the streets as fast as possible without arousing suspicion. He could not afford to be delayed. One quick glance at his watch confirmed what he thought: he had only 38 minutes left, easily enough time to do what he intended, but maybe not enough to get away cleanly. Damn. But maybe, he thought, the public need some martyrs to see what was going on.

A speck of blue appeared on the road and vanished just as quickly. Odd, he thought, as it flashed again, from no discernable source. He maintained his speed. A third flash of blue blinded him for less than a second, but as his vision recovered, a blue box appeared in front of him. He cursed loudly and floored the brake, which slowed him down, but not enough to avoid crashing.

The Tardis shook momentarily throwing its occupants around. The Doctor grabbed the console, pulling himself up. "Everyone, we've landed!" he announced.

"It doesn't normally shake like that" observed Rory, rising, holding his head.

"Well, no. But it's not the Tardis. More likely is that something must have collided with it shortly after landing. You see, not only does the Tardis expertly disguise itself to blend into its surroundings" Amy and Rory exchanged looks, "Well it would, but that's not the point. It also chooses somewhere remote to avoid stuff like this that could avoid altering history; problem is that she's quite an old thing, probably had quite a lot on the milometer before I borrowed her. Bound to happen eventually."

"So, just to be sure, what happened?" asked Amy.

"Let's find out, shall we?" The Doctor smiled before running out the doors. Amy and Rory followed to be greeted by the sight of a crashed car. The Tardis, they noticed remained unharmed. The doctor was helping a man out of the wreckage.

"What the hell is that thing? Look, never mind, I've only got… 36 minutes to get to parliament. Now if you'll excuse me" the man reached into his car.

"Quite frankly I don't think I should excuse you. You just drove into my nice antique novelty phone box. Well, probably antique…ish. Listen, what year…" He paused as the man withdrew a rifle from what remained of his car and pointed it at them.

"Out of my way" he snarled, making motions with his gun.

"Now that's odd" said the Doctor, who was ignoring the man or totally oblivious to the situation. "That's not your standard issue gun. It looks fairly light and…plastic, maybe. Oh! Oh! I see, it's camoflax!" He looked at Amy and Rory and continued explaining; "it's a special polymer that conceals metal parts so that you can take it through a metal detector" he turned back to the man, "why take a gun to parliament?"

The man advanced, gun still raised. "Move or gingey here gets her brains blown out!" he snarled. He took two steps forward before groaning and falling to the ground.

"No-one messes with my wife!" yelled Rory, perhaps a bit loudly.

"Do calm down, Rory, I was going to move. I think this centurion stuff is going to your head a bit." muttered the Doctor.

"I thought it was very brave of you," said Amy, kissing him on the cheek.

"Well, yeah." replied Rory modestly.

"Now who do we have here?" Asked the Doctor; bending down to pick the unconscious man's pockets. "A, a wallet and an ID card; belonging to a Mr John Stevens MP. Oh, and a driving license issued in 2123. So assuming this man's around 40…"

"55 actually," interjected Rory. "His ID card says his date of birth and age on it so it's 2161. Must you do everything the hard way?"

"It's more fun to guess; either you're right or you're pleasantly surprised; you win both ways."

"Now the question is; why would he take a gun to parliament?"

"Good question, Amy, in 2161, the president would be…"

"President?"

"Yes, president. You don't think the royals would carry on forever did you? But don't worry, there's a civil war in 2358 and King Bob the first is put on the throne."

"King Bob?"

"The first. I know it's amusing, but I'm afraid not relevant to the moment at hand. Don't interrupt me when I'm astounding you with my knowledge of Earth history, please." He sighed.

"We're sorry. Continue."

"As I was saying, 2161, President Green… See, not nearly as impressive now is it? But why? He was generally quite well regarded, apart from some rumours of him going a wee bit mad near the end."

"How wee?" Asked Amy.

"Some people say he wanted to declare war on France, but that was never proved because…Oh…"

"What, Doctor? Oh what?" Asked Rory.

"because he was shot in 2161."


	2. Imminent war

The newly digitised Big Ben chimed 6 times, and all around London, televisions were automatically adjusted to the government channel and giant holographic images were projected in the streets. Every Thursday since March 2088, the President would make a public announcement for less than 5 minutes, and all eyes would turn to watch him.

"Citizens of London," boomed a voice, "silence please for your President, Richard Green…"

Outside the houses of parliament, the Doctor, Amy and Rory arrived, panting.

"I can see why Stevens was so angry. We've only made it half way and we ran for thirty minutes," Panted the Doctor. "Good thing we get to practice regularly."

"So what happens now?" asked Amy.

"Your guess is as good as mine. He never made this speech in the original timeline."

"What about Stevens?"

"He'll be out for quite a while, I expect," Said Rory. "He'll be fine though."

"Shush!" The Doctor pointed to the nearest screen. "Listen!"

An image of a well trimmed and thin man appeared and proceeded to talk politics.

"Is that him, Doctor? President Grey?"

"Green! And Yes! Now shush!"

"…Due to increasing trading issues as well as their oil embargo, as well as rapidly declining political and diplomatic…" The image in front of them froze momentarily and vanished.

"What just happened?" asked Amy.

"Can't say, but listen, his voice is still being projected, and there's still an image on that screen, so it's only this one that's stopped." He turned to face them. "But why? Oh. You're why. Hello!"

"Hello yourself." said a familiar voice.

Amy and Rory spun round, and indeed there she was; Melody Pond AKA River Song.

"Must you bring my parents to all of our dates" she joked.

"Mel, what are you doing here?"

"I got a job; I have a life outside of you, you know."

"I thought you were an archaeologist."

"I dabble."

Two muffled zap sounds were heard and two figures stepped out of thin air in front of them. One of them was a Judoon, the other humanoid in appearance with the exception of the third eye and the twelve fingers. "It's not a bloody race River. You know the rules. We all arrive at the same time in order to reduce the natives' awareness of us." said the Judoon.

"And who the hell are they?" exclaimed the other.

"This, Asimov, is the Doctor, and these are my parents."

"Wow. You must have had her when you were…an embryo? Negative ten?"

"It's a bit complicated," said Rory, "You know, time travel and…bunk beds…"

"Aren't we forgetting something?" said the Doctor, brandishing his sonic screwdriver, which caused the hologram to reappear.

"…Great regret that we must declare War on France for the sake of…"

"Bloody hell, River. You were supposed to get us here a whole day before this."

"Any moment now there'll be reapers all over the place!"

"What's a reaper?"

"An indestructible being from the time vortex that seeks out paradoxes and devour everything in sight that should appear in about" –he looked at his watch –"2 minutes."

"Great."

"What?"

"All right, calm down everyone!" shouted River. "Doctor, where's Stevens?"

"Greek street, about four blocks down from here; unconscious."

"Asimov" –she gestured to the four thumbed alien- "I want you to find Stevens, copy him and teleport back here."

"Right ho," he replied and tapped a sequence into his vortex manipulator, and vanished.

"Copy him?" asked Roy sceptically.

"Yes, you see Asimov is an homo mirabilis. They can change shape to match anyone they touch externally."

Sure enough an exact replica appeared in front of them only seconds later.

"Jo" –the Judoon- "I want you to disperse the retcon into the water, pronto."

"Pronto?" –before River could respond, Jo had vanished.

"Doc, can you get us in?" asked River

"They'll have deadlock seals. My screwdriver doesn't work on them."

"Knowing this period, they'll have retina detectors."

"Leave that to me" – an exact replica on John Stevens materialised in front of them.

"Asimov? Blimey, that's good!" exclaimed the Doctor.

"Excuse me, 'Doc'" said Amy. "Did you say two minutes?"

"Well, less than that now, about… ten seconds. Run!"

"Where to?"

"Parliament! Go!"

Something changed in the endless fire that was the time vortex. A sudden cold diffused across the surroundings alerting every living being to the change. They all sensed an hole opening in the fabric of their reality and they flooded through regardless of what was on the other side. All they knew was that was where their prey was and that nothing could stop them feasting on everything they saw.

Several pores started appearing in the sky and giant winged preying mantis-like creatures fell through, unaccustomed to the gravity. Some recovered before they hit the ground, while others collided with buildings or landed in the Thames. But it didn't matter where they landed. Nothing short of an atomic bomb could deal any permanent damage to them and they knew it.

One collided with the chapel next to where they were running, spraying debris over them, afflicting them with several small cuts and bruises. One levelled out in midair and flew straight at them, only to be distracted by a pensioner walking on the opposite pavement, which it promptly began feasting on.

As they approached the bridge to the houses of Parliament, one the size of a small house plummeted heavily, destroying the bridge in front of them.

"Great. Thousands of reapers are literally falling from the sky and the only bridge to the problem is completely destroyed. Typical." said the Doctor.

"I think you're forgetting something." smirked River, indicating to her vortex manipulator. "Put your hands on." They all put their hands on, even the Doctor, who looked slightly reluctant, and vanished in a flash before reappearing outside the houses of parliament.

"River! You know that when you use time travel inside a fixed time bubble, more holes start to open!" yelled the Doctor.

"Look, you're not helping! Asimov; the door!" Asimov, in the guise of John Stevens pressed his eye to the scanner. There was a moment of silent anticipation before a green light showed and the doors opened and they steamed in.

Green stood behind a podium on the back wall of the building mid-speech, with the rest of the MPs watching him. The doors slammed behind them and suddenly all attention was on them.

"Stevens! You're late!" yelled Green. "What the hell is going on outside? And who the hell are these people?" The group looked at each other.

"Sorry about this." Said Asimov, pulling from behind him the rifle he had taken from Stevens' car and firing it, making a perfectly circular hole in Green's head while the rest of the MPs stared.

"Ta-rah chaps." Said Asimov, keying in the co-ordinates, as the others placed their hands on the vortex manipulator.

The next day, no-one could remember quite what had happened on the previous day. The only evidence that anything had ever actually happened were a few broken buildings and some suspiciously scrambled camera phone recordings. A barely conscious John Stevens was found in the House of Commons with a rifle in hand next to the corpse of President Green and no-one could remember the declaration of war with France.

"


	3. Blaze Callahan

An intense blue light reflected off the gloriously chrome walls of athe laboratory as the gang materialised, slightly bewildered. Immediately, the doctor jumped into the air, clutching his back.

"This," he gestured at the group "is why I use a TARDIS"

"Come on" said Amy "it's not that bad"

"Not on the surface, at any rate."

"River, what does he mean by that?"

"I'll answer that" chimed Asimov, now in his regular form. "It's really quite remarkably bad for you. You go into the vortex and you're completely unshielded from raw artron energy. Every time jump shaves five years off your life expectancy"

"Five years?" said Amy, incredulous.

"And that is why we use these" said Jo, snapping her fingers

Previously hidden panels opened in the ceiling and light fell upon every member of the group, showering down onto them like a waterfall. In a few seconds, the panels closed and the light dissipated.

"Oh, that is clever" said the doctor, a wide grin on his face.

"Temporal bacteria. They live in the time vortex and consume artron energy. We have our own private stock here."

A voice called from one end of the corridor; "Now what do we have here?" A figure in a World War two trenchcoat appeared and began striding towards them. "New people, splendid! Not enough people to talk to cooped up in here all day." The figure held out his hand and his face was instantly familiar. "Hello there!"

"Hah! Should've known you'd be here, Jack!" exclaimed the Doctor, shaking his hand vigorously.

"I'm sorry?"

The look on the Doctor's face fell from elated to disappointment to a millisecond as he realised that their timelines weren't in phase. He had met Jack in World War 2 London, and had travelled with him briefly, but that obviously hadn't happened for him yet. The Doctor knew Jack wasn't his real name –he'd only taken it when he became a conman.

"Gah! Time travel, eh? You never meet anyone in the right way or at the right time. Is this what it's like for you?" (To River)

"All the time"

"It's awkward more than anything. How do you address people like this?"

"I'm right over here, y'know, tiger." Said Jack.

River stepped in; "Stop it –he's mine"

"Well, then- call me if you get bored with that." He winked "and you two, oh, what a lovely young couple you are."

"Who said we were a couple?" Amy flirted

"Amy! We're married!" he waved his wedding ring in her face, "do these mean nothing to you?" He asked sardonically.

"They mean nothing to me, babes" Jack whispered in his ear. Rory shivered.

Jo stepped in before things got more awkward; "Amy, Rory, Doctor, this is agent Blaze Callahan." The Doctor stifled back a laugh, but he honestly wasn't surprised.

"Thank you for that, Jo. I trust I'll be seeing you later."

"Oh sure. Leave me out" said Asimov resentfully

"Well you can join in…"

"Alright, can somebody tell me what's going on?" interrupted Rory.

"This, boys and girls" proclaimed Blaze, with a big sweeping gesture towards the rest of the facility, "is the Time Agency!"


	4. the underground menace

A shimmer of light appeared briefly as sunlight caught the cold steel of the blade, quickly extinguished as a cloth passed over it. It was an old blade, having seen many a battle and many a neck.

"Some of this blood just never comes out" grumbled a voice slightly distorted by the sound of a forked tongue clicking against pointed teeth.

The same cloth went over and over the sword at perpetual speeds, until, frustrated, the sword was sliced through the air in a well-practised arc, making a smooth cut through the wall. Upon close inspection, the blade had sustained no damage from the scuffle.

A scaled hand fell on the shoulder of the combatant, who was breathing heavily.

"I wouldn't bother, sister" hissed the new voice. "It's only going to get dirty again."

"Why wipe your arse? It's only gonna get dirty again" snapped the first voice mockingly. The two of them squared up to each other, the shoulders barging together.

A longsword shot expertly between the two, so that the necks of both aggressors were lightly touching one sharply honed edge of the blade.

"Later girls." Spoke the voice of reason and the possessor of the third blade. "Once this is done and we have what was rightfully ours, there'll be enough bodies lying around to slice up until the world ends."

Tensions between the three relaxed briefly at the thought of revenge against those who had stolen so much from them. They continued along, water sloshing around their ankles. Behind them, a skilled squadron also marched.

And across the city, more water sloshed and more blades glinted as several more platoons converged on a destination…

(51st century Manchester, time agency compound)

The time agency compound lingered secretively in the middle of an abandoned airfield. A single building the size of a public toilet jutted like a pimple from the long grass around it. Beneath it, a trap-door above a several yard drop down in to a large empty auditorium, with several corridors snaked off in all directions. At the bottom, a hard concrete floor. The doctor called them up on it.

"That, up there, the trap door? Secret entrance? Sudden death, surely?"

"Ah, simple. Check it," winked Blaze. Jo flicked a switch on the wall.

Underfoot, the floor lost its integrity, as the floor seemed to vibrate slightly. Then this odd vibrating feeling ran slowly up to their knees.

"Um, what's happening?" asked Rory, staggering backwards, trying to escape the strange sensations. As he moved, Blaze stuck out a leg behind him, tripping him. Rory fell backwards, head first – his legs cartwheeling in to the air, his eyes shut, his body bracing for an impact…

…that never came. He opened his eyes to find himself hovering a few centimetres above the ground on his back.

"What gives?" Asked Amy, offering her hand to Rory; who had now tried to get up. As a result, he was now flailing about on his front, embarrassingly.

"It's an air cushion. It densens the air around you to catch you when you fall. However, it's quite hard to move through air this thick, so it helps to have someone near the switch. Jo, honey, you can turn it off now"

At the flick of a switch, the air dissipated around them, and Rory fell flat on his nose.

"I like it." said the Doctor. "So many people would go for the boring alternative, like elevators or stairs." A moment of thought; "Although I can't fault a good stair. Keeps the daleks out… sort of."

"So what do you do here?" asked Amy, now helping a very bloody nosed Rory to his feet and hoping to get the conversation back on track.

"Oh, you know, the usual"

"When you travel in time, usual is relative." pointed out Amy.

"It's a lot like what you do, sweetie." Smiled River. "We seek out temporal anomalies, go back in time and stop them before the reapers come. Much mor efficient and informed than what you do"

"Yeah, but not as fun." Smiled the Doctor.

"Reapers?" Chimed in Rory, "the big flying dragons of death?"

"Yep. And we sort 'em out. All of them. Well, all but one. One in 1980s London, that was you, I assume."

"Yeah. Good story. Very emotional. It would make excellent Saturday night viewing."

"And you hop around time with your watch thingies." –Amy.

"To put it simply." –Blaze. "It's all controlled and powered by a series of machinery and wires and circuitry and stuff in the main generator room."

"Where's that?"

Asimov chimed in; "Just down there. Several tunnels and corridors and corners, but essentially just down there."

Blaze jumped in. "Are we done here? I mean I've got an agency to run here"

Amy; "And we've got a TARDIS to get back to. Right, Doc?"

"I suppose we have. Well, as usual, River, it's been… unusual."

"Actually I'd say it was surprisingly uneventful."

An explosion in the background.

"Honestly, River." Muttered the Doctor. "We were so close."


	5. First Blood

"What on Earth was that?" exclaimed Rory.

"Who said it's from Earth?" chided the Doctor.

"Explosive devices on some of the other levels, near the sewers. Captain, I think we're under attack" called Asimov from a computer terminal.

"Bloody hell. Everyone! Defensive formations! Retreat to the centre and densen the air on the outer layers! You lot, come with me!" Blaze motioned to the others.

"Hey I'm not arguing with you" said Amy, quickly following in Blaze's tracks.

A cacophony of footfalls echoes along the corridors, occasionally interrupted by the devastating blasts of nearby explosions. Dozens of doors sealed behind them as they converged on the centre. The final door opened and they were met with the business ends of several nasty looking rifles, some of which were crackling with electricity.

River flung her hands in the air, taking the lead. "It's alright, we're with you. We're time agents" she produced her badge "and guests"

"Oh, that's nice, we're guests" interjected Amy

"And here I thought we were hostages" agreed Rory.

The guns lowered and standing behind them were several faces, some human; some alien. None looked particularly pleased.

"What are we dealing with here? Do we have eyes? I'm looking at you, Argus."

Argus turned to face them and looked sarcastically with all five eyes. "Hah, hah. Like I haven't heard that one before. They're taking out the cameras around the base. I don't know what's doing it."

"Then turn up the air density field. Trap them!"

Jo: "I can't sir, the matter condensers aren't at full power."

Blaze: "Dammit! Where's captain Hart! This was his responsibility!"

Asimov: "He's on holiday on the moon colony. Drunk, I imagine."

River: "Well he's picked a hell of a time! Turn it up as high as you can. Slow them down as much as you can."

Asimov didn't need to be told twice. He beat furiously at the keyboard.

River turned to the Doctor "You're being unusually quiet today"

"They've got it under control, I'm sure. Very military. Besides I can't do a thing until I know what we're dealing with."

"You could try and fix the surveillance. Use your sonic spanner"

"It's a screwdriver and you know it."

"Do you realise how silly you sound right now?"

"Really? I'd say that was one of my saner moments."

"All right! Break it up, you two! Doctor, you go fix the cameras"

River smirked.

"And as for you, young lady, you're grounded!"

"Yes ma'am."

The metal doors stood between the handful of time agents and the invading forces. As was protocol, the doors were ten inches thick and reinforced with monocrystalline technetium for laser fire. This was the only protection the agents had, but even now it was sliding backwards; they raised their weapons.

Beyond the door, emerald light reflected from the skin of the enemies. Instinctively their yellow eyes snapped onto the agents' weapons as they raised their swords. The guns fired bullets towards the scaly invaders; slower than normal, but still enough to gravely wound them. The first row fell slowly, but behind them the second row had already raised their own weapons and unleashed a shot. The pulses shot through the air as a wave, so much faster than their conventional projectile weapons. The door was almost blown from its rails and in one shot, two agents were gravely injured.

"They're using wave pulse rifles! They're faster in dense air!" shouted one, before getting struck in the chest and falling flat.

A few more volleys of bullets were fired, but it soon became clear that the invaders had planned their invasion well. In a few minutes, all the remaining agents retreated, leaving the green humanoids wading through the air slowly and two corpses on the ground. The door lay crumpled on the floor, unable to close.

The first trespasser burst swiftly through the door relishing the sudden freedom of movement. She twisted her head left and right before fixing her eyes on a camera. In a split second, her tongue lashed out at it like a whip, destroying it.

Deeper in the building, the Doctor watched helplessly as the troops retreated and the picture went. He pulled back and stroked his substantial chin.

"Doctor, I've seen those before" chimed Amy.

"Yes, underground with the drill, in Wales."

"Is there something you're not telling us, Doctor" asked Jack.

"They're not aliens. They've been here longer than we have." He turned to the crowd behind him "Homo Reptilia, or as you might know them… Silurians"


End file.
